I scratched two movie-related items off my “life list” on Saturday when I finally got around to watching two classic horror films, 1922’s “Nosferatu” and 1931’s “Dracula.”
Like a lot of movie fans, I’ve known about these movies for a long time, but I’d just never taken the time to sit down and watch them in their entirety. I streamed both of them over NetFlix on Saturday and enjoyed watching both of these old-timey vampire movies.
“Nosferatu” is a silent German film loosely based on Bram Stoker’s novel, “Dracula.” Directed by F.W. Murnau, this movie starred Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schroder, Alexander Granach and Georg H. Schnell. At 94 minutes in length, this is one of few early horror films that are now in the public domain in the U.S.
You’ll find this movie on a number of “best of” lists, including Fangoria Magazine’s list of “300 Best Horror Films.” Entertainment Weekly ranked it No. 80 on its list of “100 Greatest Movies of All Time,” and it was also included on Steven Jay Schneider’s list of “1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die.” It was also ranked No. 21 on Empire Magazine’s list of “100 Best Films of World Cinema.”
This movie is also the origin of the idea that sunlight kills vampires. In fact, this movie was the first time in film history that showed a vampire being killed by sunlight. Since the movie was an unauthorized adaptation of Stoker’s novel, they changed the vampire death scene in order to avoid being sued.
Another interesting thing about this old movie is that the original orchestral score that accompanied this movie has been lost to time. If you watch it on NetFlix, you’ll hear an accompaniment, but it’s not the original. It’s been pieced together from what little bit is known about the original musical score.
1931's “Dracula” came along just after the end of the silent film era and is also based on Stoker’s novel and a 1924 stage adaptation written by Hamilton Deane and John L. Balderston. Directed by Tod Browning and Karl Freund, this movie starred Bela Lugosi, Helen Chandler, David Manners, Dwight Frye and Edward Van Sloan. At 85 minutes in length, this movie was a huge box office success in its day. This classic film was later selected for inclusion in the National Film Registry and in Fangoria Magazine’s list of “300 Best Horror Films.”
Both of these movies are considered classics of the horror genre, and if you consider yourself a horror fan, you really need to watch both of these movies. Both of them tell the same story in slightly different ways, and both of them are very creepy (and funny) in parts. I highly recommend them both, even to movie fans in general. You will not be disappointed.
In the end, how many of you out there have seen these movies? What did you think about them? Of the two, which is your personal favorite? Let us know in the comments section below.
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